Haydn

Haydn Payne, twenty-five, is a junior sous chef originally from Essex, now living in Bermondsey, London. He trained at Westminster Kingsway College before cutting his teeth at Pétrus by Gordon Ramsay, where he learned discipline and precision at an early age. He went on to work at Trinity in Clapham — a kitchen that pushed him creatively and technically — before landing at Prince Arthur in Belgravia, a Basque-inspired pub where he's developed his cooking around fire. His grandparents were his greatest inspiration, the people who first showed him how fun cooking could be. He entered MasterChef to keep a promise he'd made to them: that he would do it one day. His style is classic European with a love for Italian and Spanish ingredients — simple food, beautifully cared for. Outside the kitchen, it's skiing in winter, golf in summer, and Arsenal all year round.